Mike and his buddy, Chico

Sugarloaf Key: A grey and windy day today. Stayed inside most of the day. Finally went to Big Pine Key to return a movie we rented and had lunch at Capt. Crossbones. Dinner tonight at the clubhouse and then we went to see “Defending the Caveman”—a one-man show at the Tennessee Williams Theater. Pretty funny dialogue about relationships between men and women. A great little theater. At dinner tonight we sat with an Australian couple who are over here for a year. They flew over here, bought a small motor home and will travel around the States for a year and then sell it and return home. What a great idea! Hmmmmm….

Mon, 1/14/08

Sugarloaf Key: A little cool and breezy today. I cleaned while Mike was out running errands and then when he was over playing shoes I played spades on the Internet. Think we’re going to pass on happy hour tonight.

Sun, 1/13/08

Sugarloaf Key: A beautiful, warm day. After hanging around outside most of the day, we headed into Key West to do our laundry. Then came back, ate leftovers and watched a movie.

Historic Residence--Simonton St., Old Town Key West

Sat, 1/12/08

Sugarloaf Key: A beautiful day today. We just hung out all day and sat outside and read. Mike grilled chicken and I made a 3 bean salad for dinner. Watched a DVD while we ate—“Black Widow”. Terrible. Playing jokers at the clubhouse tonight. There’s a bunch going over to the KOA to hear “Mile Marker 24”—some group I’ve never heard of. They’re supposed to be good. A lot of hangovers tomorrow.

Besame Mucho--Old Town Key West

Fri, 1/11/08

Sugarloaf Key: Raining this morning. Started during the night sometime. So we decided to go grocery shopping. When we came out of the grocery store it was raining pretty hard. Mike wanted to wait to see if it would let up and I said nah, let’s go. So we did and got absolutely soaked. I hate it when he’s right. After that we went to Pizzaworks for lunch and froze in the air conditioning. Cleared off later. A group was playing jokers at the clubhouse. We stayed in and watched TV.

Blue Heaven Cafe

Sugarloaf Key: Took the bikes and drove a couple of miles and parked just off Rt. 1 and then biked through a residential area on Sugarloaf. Some really beautiful homes in this area. At the end of the road there’s access to an old state road that has been shut down because of a burned out bridge. It’s now used strictly for biking. It’s a great place to bike and dead ends at a pretty little lake. We had lunch there. There’s a path through the mangroves from the lake to a pretty little point on the ocean side. Walked around there for a while. There are lots of things you can see in the tide pools. There was also an osprey nest there. The osprey flew away and never came back while we were there. Biked back to the truck and came back home and relaxed the rest of the day. Another beautiful day in paradise.

314 Simonton St.

This is where Hemmingway lived (upstairs apartment) when he wrote "A Farewell to Arms".

Sugarloaf Key: Drove into Key West this morning and picked up the book, “Matecumbe” by James Michener (the lost Florida novel) and then went to Blue Heaven for breakfast. They have the best benedict dishes. I had tenderloin benedict this time. They also have lobster benedict, salmon benedict, and shrimp benedict. They’re all excellent. And they have fresh squeezed orange juice. Delicious. After breakfast we went to the Green Parrot bar and had a drink. Hey, it was after noon. This bar has an eclectic, local clientele and has been a fixture in Key West since 1890. Drove over to the Eco Center and checked out the new coral reef exhibit. This is a free venue, free parking, and it’s within walking distance of Mallory Square. Mote Laboratories has something to do with it…a sponsor or something. The guy in the motor home across from us works there. We ran into him while we were there. After leaving there we went over to Key West harbor. The water there is so beautiful. Had dinner at our favorite Cuban restaurant. Went home and crashed. Did a lot of walking.